Ok, so I've been slacking a bit. Been a bit more busy at home and work then usual, but still no excuse. I've been doing pretty good with eating and working out. Down 3 lbs from when I started. Still working on running but that's probably the hardest part for me. I'm going to try to get outside while we are in a warm spell. Would be nice to not be on a treadmill.
So, this month Bakers Square has my favorite pie that only comes around once a year. It's called the European Truffle Pie. Think French Silk but with a cookie crumb crust, layer of chocolate ganache, dark chooclate french silk filling, and chocolate whipped cream topping. Sooooo delicious. I was tempted to go buy a whole pie, but I just got a piece this weekend when I went with my mom and I'll probably go there once for lunch with a coworker yet this month.
Last night I also made a big batch of Beef-barley-lentil-veggie soup, so that should last me quite a few meals this week. I just need to start getting up on time to make sure I have a good breakfast and make some good snacks to bring to work.
Right now I have 14 weeks in my countdown till I go down to Florida for a friends wedding. My goal is to loose at least 10-15 lbs by then, 20 would be awesome but not going to push it. I'm still allowing myself one meal a week that I can not worry too much about my calories. Those haven't been so bad. It's usually been when I go out to eat.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Friday, February 4, 2011
Some random things about what I've been doing differently
So, figured I would take some time to write down some of the things I've been doing differently on my journey here.
- I found out that if I chop up the lettuce in my salad I can get by with only 1 Tbsp of dressing instead of 2. Seems like the dressing coats the lettuce better when it's in smaller pieces. Once I finish up the House Dressing I got form the Melting Pot (I love it!) I'm going to move to a lower calorie dressing. 1 Tbsp. of this right now is 80 cals.
- I had a craving for brats the other day so I bought a small pack. I had one without a bun and a bunch of broccoli. I also measured out 1 Tbsp. of ketchup and added a bunch of mustard since there is next to zero calories in mustard.
-Not only have I been tracking my food diligently but I've also been measuring everything, including condiments, at least for now. After awhile I'm sure I'll get better at eyeballing the amounts, but for now figured measuring is the way to go.
-I've also been working on cutting down the bad stuff that I don't want to cut completely out. For example, I had a salad the other day that I usually like shredded cheese and bacon pieces on. I cut down half of the cheese I usually use down to 1/8 c. and instead of the usualy 4 pieces of bacon I cut up, I used only 1 piece.
-I've been working really hard to have a bunch of veggies and fruit around to snack on, especially celery and cucumbers since they are very low in calories and it gives me the satisfaction of crunching on something.
-The best thing I've been doing is taking the time at night and on the weekend to plan out my meals and make ahead of time what I can. I just bought some bananas to let soften to make up some more whole wheat banana flax pancakes for breakfast.
Well that's all for now. Just wanted to share while I was thinking about it. Thanks for listening!
- I found out that if I chop up the lettuce in my salad I can get by with only 1 Tbsp of dressing instead of 2. Seems like the dressing coats the lettuce better when it's in smaller pieces. Once I finish up the House Dressing I got form the Melting Pot (I love it!) I'm going to move to a lower calorie dressing. 1 Tbsp. of this right now is 80 cals.
- I had a craving for brats the other day so I bought a small pack. I had one without a bun and a bunch of broccoli. I also measured out 1 Tbsp. of ketchup and added a bunch of mustard since there is next to zero calories in mustard.
-Not only have I been tracking my food diligently but I've also been measuring everything, including condiments, at least for now. After awhile I'm sure I'll get better at eyeballing the amounts, but for now figured measuring is the way to go.
-I've also been working on cutting down the bad stuff that I don't want to cut completely out. For example, I had a salad the other day that I usually like shredded cheese and bacon pieces on. I cut down half of the cheese I usually use down to 1/8 c. and instead of the usualy 4 pieces of bacon I cut up, I used only 1 piece.
-I've been working really hard to have a bunch of veggies and fruit around to snack on, especially celery and cucumbers since they are very low in calories and it gives me the satisfaction of crunching on something.
-The best thing I've been doing is taking the time at night and on the weekend to plan out my meals and make ahead of time what I can. I just bought some bananas to let soften to make up some more whole wheat banana flax pancakes for breakfast.
Well that's all for now. Just wanted to share while I was thinking about it. Thanks for listening!
CRAP!!!
I just found out that my favorite pie is at Bakers Square this month. The European Truffle Pie. Delicious chocolately goodness. So now I need to try to work in getting a few slices into my diet this month. I'm sure I can fit it in, just got to plan.
Grrrrr.
Still feeling a bit discouraged today. Weight still doesn't seem to be moving. I'm on day 4 of meticulously tracking my calorie intake. I've been working out a good amount, incorporating proper rest days. I drink a lot of water. What's wrong? I'm hoping maybe this week it's due to retaining water or something since it's that time of the month, I guess we'll see come next week. I have day 3 of my week 4 of running so we'll see how that goes.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
The day after.....well....yesterday
Our fair state is blanketed in snow, some counties and freeways have been deemed impassable. Crazy. While not snowed in, I am home bound from work for the day again.
Yesterday I had a successful day of logging my food, and I am looking to make this day 2. It looks like the plows came through here recently so I should be able to make it out to the gym during my lunch break today to do my C25k running.
Yesterday I had a successful day of logging my food, and I am looking to make this day 2. It looks like the plows came through here recently so I should be able to make it out to the gym during my lunch break today to do my C25k running.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.
Well, we are currently under a blizzard watch and I am working from home probably for the next two days. I 'm still debating if I want to try to drive the three blocks to the gym to work out for a bit, or try to do some stuff here at home. The girl that lives below me is gone so I don't have to worry about making too much noise so that's at least an option. Decisions, decisions.
Lunch Time!
My mom picked me up a Wendy's Apple chicken pecan salad for lunch today. Normally the full thing would be about 580 calories. But, I decided not to use the small package of candied pecans (110 cals saved) and only use 1 package of dressing (60 calories saved). Yay me!
ugh...to brave the cold and snow covered streets for a long and difficult 3 blocks, or to stay home snug and warm in my computer room.. Hmmm. Thinking of staying in right now.
Lunch Time!
My mom picked me up a Wendy's Apple chicken pecan salad for lunch today. Normally the full thing would be about 580 calories. But, I decided not to use the small package of candied pecans (110 cals saved) and only use 1 package of dressing (60 calories saved). Yay me!
ugh...to brave the cold and snow covered streets for a long and difficult 3 blocks, or to stay home snug and warm in my computer room.. Hmmm. Thinking of staying in right now.
Sigh....
Well, yesterday I managed to do the next week of my C25k which consisted of the following:
5 min warmup
3 min running
1:30 walk
5 min run
2:30 walk
3 min run
1:30 min walk
5 min run
cool down
I was worried about doing the 5 minutes of running but I managed to complete it. I did, however, have to go down to 5.6 instead of the 5.8/6 I've been running at. I'm going to try to work my way back up to running the 5 at 5.8 by the end of the week.
So, I'm a little discouraged this morning. I weighed myself, and nothing...scale didn't even move. I just don't know what else to do. I'm going to try to be more diligent with logging my food and see if I can work in some more cardio when I do my strength workouts. I just want to see a few pounds drop off.
5 min warmup
3 min running
1:30 walk
5 min run
2:30 walk
3 min run
1:30 min walk
5 min run
cool down
I was worried about doing the 5 minutes of running but I managed to complete it. I did, however, have to go down to 5.6 instead of the 5.8/6 I've been running at. I'm going to try to work my way back up to running the 5 at 5.8 by the end of the week.
So, I'm a little discouraged this morning. I weighed myself, and nothing...scale didn't even move. I just don't know what else to do. I'm going to try to be more diligent with logging my food and see if I can work in some more cardio when I do my strength workouts. I just want to see a few pounds drop off.
Friday, January 28, 2011
The Bernstein Bears and ..... too much munching!
Well, not so sure about them but I know I definitly have a munching problem at work. Especially between breakfast and lunch for some reason. I usually try to bring some kind of crunchy veggies to curb the desire which usually works, especially celery. They say a good breakfast is supposed to keep you full, but for some reason whenever I eat breakfast it seems like I'm hungier until lunch.
I realized last night that I need to be more dilligent with tracking my food consumption. I know it worked for me last time I stuck to it so I dont' know why I keep forgetting. Probably part laziness. I talked to my sister last night via Skype and she's been doing a fantastic job tracking her food for that last two weeks. I need to work a bit harder on that.
I usually have a stash of dove dark chocolate pieces in my cube which I would eat one or two after lunch. That was just enough to curb the chocolate craving I usually get. I got rid of all the chocolate that I have but then I just sit here wanting chocolate and fighting the urge to go to the vending machine. I can't win.
I realized last night that I need to be more dilligent with tracking my food consumption. I know it worked for me last time I stuck to it so I dont' know why I keep forgetting. Probably part laziness. I talked to my sister last night via Skype and she's been doing a fantastic job tracking her food for that last two weeks. I need to work a bit harder on that.
I usually have a stash of dove dark chocolate pieces in my cube which I would eat one or two after lunch. That was just enough to curb the chocolate craving I usually get. I got rid of all the chocolate that I have but then I just sit here wanting chocolate and fighting the urge to go to the vending machine. I can't win.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Workout
Workout today at lunch consisted of:
-Jump rope to get the heart rate up
-Turkish get ups http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmzFAgYCAu0
-Kettlebell swings
-back and side extensions
-lunges with 2 lb weights
Afterwards I rolled out the muscles in my legs with a foam roller, IT band still massively painful.
-Jump rope to get the heart rate up
-Turkish get ups http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmzFAgYCAu0
-Kettlebell swings
-back and side extensions
-lunges with 2 lb weights
Afterwards I rolled out the muscles in my legs with a foam roller, IT band still massively painful.
Slacking
OK, so I've been slacking a bit. This past weekend went ok. I actually didn't really get to the gym except for Sunday, but I did do a lot of cleaning around the apartment. I splurged and got an order of sweet and sour chicken which I spread out into 4 meals so I wasn't eating too much at once. I did my C25k running on Sunday to end week 2 and did week 3 yesterday. This weeks running conisists of the following:
5min warmup
1:30 run
1:30 walk
3:00 run
3:00 walk
1:30 run
1:30 walk
3:00 run
3:00 walk
5 min cooldown.
The first 3 minute run wasn't to bad, the second one had me pushing it to finish - but I made it!
Last night I made a pot of veggie stew. I use a Bob's Red Mill Veggie soup mix and add potatoes, carrots, celery, and peas. It ends up being around $1 a serving and like 170 cals per serving. Very yummy! I get 5 servings out of a pot, so that will be my lunch for the rest of the week. Just got to figure out what to do for dinners.
Heading to the gym today during lunch, thinking I'll probably do a little bit of cardio to warm up the muscles then do some strength training.
5min warmup
1:30 run
1:30 walk
3:00 run
3:00 walk
1:30 run
1:30 walk
3:00 run
3:00 walk
5 min cooldown.
The first 3 minute run wasn't to bad, the second one had me pushing it to finish - but I made it!
Last night I made a pot of veggie stew. I use a Bob's Red Mill Veggie soup mix and add potatoes, carrots, celery, and peas. It ends up being around $1 a serving and like 170 cals per serving. Very yummy! I get 5 servings out of a pot, so that will be my lunch for the rest of the week. Just got to figure out what to do for dinners.
Heading to the gym today during lunch, thinking I'll probably do a little bit of cardio to warm up the muscles then do some strength training.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Working in a coal mine, going down down down
I don't know what it is about sitting in a cube that makes me want to snack. Sitting at home I'm usually fine, but at work I feel like I need to be munching on something. Right now I have a bunch of gum that helps most of the time and the big bowl of cut up veggies I made on Sunday is helping out. Didn't get a chance to step on the scale this morning becuase I was running late, but I'll definitly have to do that tomorrow. Today during lunch I am going to the gym to do my C25k workout and some weights. I just wish my abs would heal up, they are still a bit sore. My butt is a bit sore from the lunges I did the other day, but that I can work through.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Trudging through the snow...
Today we are expected to get 3-5 inches of snow, so I decided it wasn't worth making the 45min to and from work and am working from home. When I look out my window I can't really decipher the road from the yards since the plows haven't come through yet. Because of this I decided not to drive to the gym during lunch, but walk the 4 blocks there. It actually wasn't so bad. The most annoying part was walking through the piles of snow on the sidewalks, murder on the calves.
Today my workout consisted of day 4 of my C25k routine and some strength training. For my C25k, today's workout was 5 min warm up, then 1:30 run and 2 min walk intervals for 20 minutes, then 5 min cool down. I was able to keep up a 5.8 pace on the treadmill during all of the runs.
After that I did a small strength routine that consisted of three rounds of:
thrusters (10 lb weights)
reverse lateral flys (5lb weights)
lunges (5 for each leg)
mountain climbers (20)
My legs are a bit noodle like, but otherwise I'm doing good. Now to go home and make myself a nice lunch of tuna lettuce!
Today my workout consisted of day 4 of my C25k routine and some strength training. For my C25k, today's workout was 5 min warm up, then 1:30 run and 2 min walk intervals for 20 minutes, then 5 min cool down. I was able to keep up a 5.8 pace on the treadmill during all of the runs.
After that I did a small strength routine that consisted of three rounds of:
thrusters (10 lb weights)
reverse lateral flys (5lb weights)
lunges (5 for each leg)
mountain climbers (20)
My legs are a bit noodle like, but otherwise I'm doing good. Now to go home and make myself a nice lunch of tuna lettuce!
Pizza! Pizza!
Ok, so I was a little lazy this week, sorta. I ended up spending a good majority of Saturday cleaning my apartment top to bottom, which actually was a bit of work. But now it's all nice and squeaky clean! Breakfast was some oatmeal and fruit. Lunch - leftover steak and asparagus. But for dinner, I decided I didn't want to cook and used the free pizza coupon I had from Domino's and got a sausage and black olive pizza. I only ate 2 pieces which isn't horrible, and a medium pizza lasted me 4 meals.
Sunday I spent most of my day doing some much needed digital organizing on the computer and going through the piles of CDs and DVDs I had laying around in my computer room. While doing that I got through a good portion of LOST - which I'm finally watching. In the afternoon, however I decided I should get my ass up and do something, so I ended up renting a disc of LOST from the video store to take to Anytime Fitness and walk for a bit. At least I did something right?
Later I did a bit of shopping and got some good food for the week. Got some fruit, tuna, and a lot of veggies which I washed and cut up last night so they are good to go.
Sunday I spent most of my day doing some much needed digital organizing on the computer and going through the piles of CDs and DVDs I had laying around in my computer room. While doing that I got through a good portion of LOST - which I'm finally watching. In the afternoon, however I decided I should get my ass up and do something, so I ended up renting a disc of LOST from the video store to take to Anytime Fitness and walk for a bit. At least I did something right?
Later I did a bit of shopping and got some good food for the week. Got some fruit, tuna, and a lot of veggies which I washed and cut up last night so they are good to go.
..and everywhere I went, I was running.
Day two of my C25K plan, and made it through it. My abs and quads are still really sore but once I got running it wasn't so bad. I was able to stay up at 5.8mph during the running portions so that's a small improvement. Granted, I'm only running a total of like 8 minutes, but still it's better then I was doing.
Still eating well. Scale read 163 today, so yay! Slow and steady wins the race. I'm still annoyed that I somehow got back into the 160's. I was doing so well for over a year staying around 150. Grr.
Still eating well. Scale read 163 today, so yay! Slow and steady wins the race. I'm still annoyed that I somehow got back into the 160's. I was doing so well for over a year staying around 150. Grr.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Day one completed, sore abs imminent
Starting weight this morning. 166, ugh.
Well got my ass in gear and actually made it to the gym during my lunch break today. I did day one of my couch to 5k program which consisted of 5 min warm up, 20 minutes alternating between 1 minute running and 1:30 minutes walking, followed by a 5 minute cool down. I got up to about 6 mph for the running portions. I haven't been running in awhile so it wasn't the easiest thing, but I managed. I can already feel my quads and abs burning a bit.
After that I did a little strength routine consisting of 3 rounds of the following:
- incline bench press, 8 reps
- bent over row, 8 reps
-single arms kettle bell swings, 5 reps each arm
-burpees (also called squat thrusts) for 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off for 2 minutes.
Well, using 10 lb weights I didn't have any issues with the weight parts. The burpees kind of killed me and I ended up only doing 1 minute of the intervals. I forgot how much they take out of you. I'm striving to work up to doing the full 2 minutes without dying.
After work I met up with my friend at Anytime fitness and walked for another 30 minutes, did 5 minutes on the stair climber, and then did some lower back and oblique work on the back extension bench. I will probably feel it tomorrow.
Eating wise I actually staying within my calories. I did go over but the exercising helped to bring it back under. I still ended up snacking a little at work, need to cut that down a bit. I grabbed two small tootsie rolls from a bowl and didn't realize it was a total of 100 cals. Eek.
Now I'm just sitting down to watch Despicable Me and have one of my favorite snacks - Celery topped with mustard. yum!
Well got my ass in gear and actually made it to the gym during my lunch break today. I did day one of my couch to 5k program which consisted of 5 min warm up, 20 minutes alternating between 1 minute running and 1:30 minutes walking, followed by a 5 minute cool down. I got up to about 6 mph for the running portions. I haven't been running in awhile so it wasn't the easiest thing, but I managed. I can already feel my quads and abs burning a bit.
After that I did a little strength routine consisting of 3 rounds of the following:
- incline bench press, 8 reps
- bent over row, 8 reps
-single arms kettle bell swings, 5 reps each arm
-burpees (also called squat thrusts) for 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off for 2 minutes.
Well, using 10 lb weights I didn't have any issues with the weight parts. The burpees kind of killed me and I ended up only doing 1 minute of the intervals. I forgot how much they take out of you. I'm striving to work up to doing the full 2 minutes without dying.
After work I met up with my friend at Anytime fitness and walked for another 30 minutes, did 5 minutes on the stair climber, and then did some lower back and oblique work on the back extension bench. I will probably feel it tomorrow.
Eating wise I actually staying within my calories. I did go over but the exercising helped to bring it back under. I still ended up snacking a little at work, need to cut that down a bit. I grabbed two small tootsie rolls from a bowl and didn't realize it was a total of 100 cals. Eek.
Now I'm just sitting down to watch Despicable Me and have one of my favorite snacks - Celery topped with mustard. yum!
Hitting the ground running
Ok, so I'm not exactly fat but I've had anywhere from 10-30 extra pounds hanging around ever since high school that I'd like finally gone. After years of saying I'm going to do something about it...and failing....I decided to finally get my ass in gear. I decided to make this blog to document my efforts as a way to hold myself accountable.
So after stepping on the scale yesterday and realizing that I had somehow gained another 5lbs I decided what a better time then now. So here's what I'm going to be doing:
Diet:
Well this isn't exactly the hard part, mostly. I actually enjoy a lot of healthy foods - fruits, veggies, whole grains, etc. I just also LOVE snacking, chocolate, ice cream etc. I'm pretty sure the latter are the culprits. A few years ago with the help of www.thedailyplate.com I was able to successfully lose 20 lbs by calorie counting. While tedious, it did help so I'm going to turn back to that for awhile.
Exercise:
I've been going to the gym off and on with a friend but haven't really put in that much effort other then walking for awhile. I actually had a good routine down last year but months of slacking really take a toll on you. One thing I just started is a couch to 5k program along with my sister. We are planning on doing a 5k around St. Patty's Day, so I have some incentive now.
I'll also be doing some different kinds of strength training, which I'll outline on my posts.
Shame:
Probably the most incentive of all is myself in a bathing suit, which right now I'm really not liking. So I am going to try to add some photos along the way. I also have a friends wedding coming up in May, at which I would really like to wear a dress that's been hanging in my closet unworn for quite some time now.
Well...wish me luck!
So after stepping on the scale yesterday and realizing that I had somehow gained another 5lbs I decided what a better time then now. So here's what I'm going to be doing:
Diet:
Well this isn't exactly the hard part, mostly. I actually enjoy a lot of healthy foods - fruits, veggies, whole grains, etc. I just also LOVE snacking, chocolate, ice cream etc. I'm pretty sure the latter are the culprits. A few years ago with the help of www.thedailyplate.com I was able to successfully lose 20 lbs by calorie counting. While tedious, it did help so I'm going to turn back to that for awhile.
Exercise:
I've been going to the gym off and on with a friend but haven't really put in that much effort other then walking for awhile. I actually had a good routine down last year but months of slacking really take a toll on you. One thing I just started is a couch to 5k program along with my sister. We are planning on doing a 5k around St. Patty's Day, so I have some incentive now.
I'll also be doing some different kinds of strength training, which I'll outline on my posts.
Shame:
Probably the most incentive of all is myself in a bathing suit, which right now I'm really not liking. So I am going to try to add some photos along the way. I also have a friends wedding coming up in May, at which I would really like to wear a dress that's been hanging in my closet unworn for quite some time now.
Well...wish me luck!
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